Work machines such as wheel loaders are commonly used in applications with debris-filled environments. The present invention is directed toward the use of such a work machine in a landfill application, but it is obvious that landscaping/mulching, agricultural, leaf composting, and many other applications would have similar environments. In an environment containing debris, especially large airborne particles, such as paper or leaves, difficulties arise in keeping the work machine's cooling system and radiators free of such debris. When the cooling system becomes clogged with this material, its efficiency drops and the machine may overheat.
Additional shielding and filters are sometimes used to keep debris from finding its way into the engine compartment, but this can mean that an insufficient volume of air is available for passing through the cooling cores.
Many attempts have been made to provide more efficient cooling systems for work machines. An example is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,377,203, issued Mar. 22, 1983 to Ejima. This patent discloses a centrifugal fan drawing air in through the front and back of the engine compartment and directing it out through a shaped radiator. This type of variable profile radiator can be very expensive to manufacture and drawing the air from two locations provides more of a chance for debris to enter the cooling system.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,757,858, issued Jul. 19, 1988 to Miller et al. discloses a cooling system mounted above the engine inside the engine compartment. Two fans are mounted horizontally into the top of the engine compartment, but draw air through rectangular radiators and out the top of the engine compartment. This design does not provide even airflow to all portions of the radiators and also draws airflow from a lower point on the machine toward a higher point.
Currently available work machines have cooling systems that are difficult to clean of debris that enters the system. The cleaning procedure often requires that the operator work in uncomfortable positions and may even require a time-consuming partial disassembly of the engine compartment of the machine. Due to the inconvenience of cleaning the cooling system, such preventative maintenance may be neglected, which can result in overheating and harm to the machine.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.